Battle of Uthun
The Battle of Uthun was a military engagement in the Caelish-Ithilian War that took place in January 7th, 301 AFT on the Plains of Uthun (located on the southern border of the Caelish Princepality. It was fought by the armed forces of the Caelish Princepality led by Princeps Caem Castus and Secundus Lariel Arlington against the armed forces of the Ithilian Coalition of Ferox led by Warchief Gar Calamatos. Following the disastrous first encounter in the jungles of Ferox, where an expeditionary team was attacked by Orks, the Caelish declared war on the Ithilians and called for their allies, Gald Alfrell and the Kingdom of Astrovius, to raise their armies as well. However scouts from the Caelish border reported that an Ork army was on the way. The Caelish decided to march without the impending reinforcements from their allies in order to meet the Orks on the field before they reached the territories of the Caelish. The two forces meet on the field of Uthun where a fierce battle occured which ended in a Pyrrhic Caelish victory as both sides took grievous casualties. Due to the casualties taken by both sides, the war would temporarily cease until 303 AFT. Prelude In 300 AFT, the Caelish sent out an expeditionary team to scout the southern parts past their territories. Previously, Uthun was the farthest they had explored. In February, the scout team set out and it wouldn't be another four months until Caelum heard any news from the team. It was in June, during the festival of the Rhovorn, that news finally arrived. It was grim. Three quarters of the team were killed with the rest barely able to escape. The culprits revealed themselves to be a massive ork coalition located in the dense jungles of Ferox far to the south. The team was spared so they could carry a declaration of war back to Caelum. The Caelish, angered by the unprovoked attack, declared war on the Orks and mustered their armies. By December 300 AFT, five thousand soldiers had been mustered and marched out from Caelum to meet the incoming Ork army at the border plains of Uthun. Some seven orks had assembled and were heading for the border territories. In January 7th, both armies had arrived and clashed on the field of Uthun. Date The date officially recorded by the Caelish is the 7th of January 300 AFT. According to the Orks, the battle occured on 7th of Jork 58 ACC (After Coalition Creation). Location The battle took place in the plains of Uthun. Uthun are plains surrounded by hills and forests. The Caelish approached from the North and thus the land was slightly sloped to their favour, allowing them to position their artillery behind their army and give them a clear view ahead. The Orks had approached from the south and thus had to fight uphill slightly. The day was dry and slightly arid, with nay a cloud in sight. Opposing Armies Caelish Army * The army consisted of 4000 infantry which included thirty regiments of Infantry which accounted for three thousand men and twenty regiments of Marksmen. * There were around 1000 cavalry mustered, with the Horse Corps making up the bulk of the cavalry, numbering at seven hundred and fifty horsemen (30 companies). There were five companies of Lions and only ten war rhinos. There were also a full company of Caelum Angels on the field, numbering at one hundred. * Finally, there was the artillery units. There were fifty pieces of artillery with fifty cannons. Ithilian Army * The army consisted of 6500 ork warriors, led by three warchiefs. * There were also 500 ogres and trolls acting as heavy shock troops. Deployment Initial Deployment On the Caelish line, the infantry had been arrayed in the traditional caelish infantry formation of 4 lines of 25 men each. There were about two lines of these formations with two thousand men in each line. The infantry locked shields while the marksmen formed themselves in front of the infantry. The artillery was set up in the back of the army and made use of the slopes which allowed them to see ahead and aim over the Caelish army. The cavalry was stationed in the western forests and hid themselves there so they could hit the left flank of the ork army when they met the infantry in battle. Princeps Caem Castus had command of the cavalry. The plan was for the infantry engage the ork infantry and hold them in place. The cavalry, positioned in the forests would charge the left flank in a hammer and anvil tactic. On the ork side, they had arrayed themselves in one massive loose formation. The ogres and trolls were positioned on both flanks. The Orks knew they had the physical superiority over humans and so hoped to smash the infantry on the field and cause the rest of the army to break and rout when the infantry fell. Progress of the battle When the two sides finally clashed, both sides were surprised by each others strengths. The sheer strength disparity between the humans and the orks, ogres and trolls was incontestably favourable towards the Ithilians. However the orks had no units that could counter the firepower of the Caelish artillery. For an hour, the two sides fought in a bitterly contested melee. The Orks were clearly superior in the melee but could not take advantage of it as the sheer firepower of the Caelish artillery pushed them back and gave the infantry enough time to reform any time they broke. Eventually however the Caelish infantry began to lose ground and not even the artillery was enough to keep the orks at bay. As the Infantry were being pushed back up the slope, the artillery also had to be disassembled, moved up the hill and then reassembled, which meant that the Infantry were forced to hold the formation without artillery support. The Infantry were quickly being overwhelmed but this also meant that the infantry were pushed close enough to the edge of the forests were the cavalry division was waiting. Princeps Caem Castus led the cavalry down the plains and attacked the left flank of the orks. Castus led 400 horsemen and 100 Angels and hit the left flank while the other 500 cavalry continued galloping past the right flank and wheeled back when they had reached a suitable amount of distance to reform and charge the ork formation's rear. The cavalry charge was successful. The Orks left flank collapsed and the right flank began retreating. However whilst the ork right flank retreated, Caem had cut his way through the left flank to face the Warchief Gor Calamatos in single combat. The two warriors fought but in the end, Caem was cut down by Gor. The Princeps death resulted in the orks reforming and attacking the already exhausted infantry in an attempt to retake the field. However the battle was only barely won when the Caelum Angels, seeing the death of the Princeps, went berserk with rage and reaped a bloody toll for the death of the Princeps. Each Angel on the field died that day but not before killing hundreds in their rage. Such was the rage of the Angels that the Ork's second charge was halted and was finally broken when the Caelish artillery finally reformed and resumed fire on the ork army. The orks could no longer hold out against the artillery and the berserk rage of the Angels and were forced to retreat from the field. The day was won by the Caelish but both sides had taken such grievous causalities that the war would temporarily cease until 303 AFT. Aftermath After the battle, both armies retreated back to their respective territories as each side had taken horrible casualties in the battle. The Caelish lost four thousand infantry and marksmen, alongside eight hundred and fifty cavalry. The entire Angel company died on the field, killing hundreds in their rampage. The Orks lost four thousand ork warriors and four hundred ogres and trolls and were forced to retreat back to Ithilian territory. The Caelish corpses were buried in mass graves according to regiment, with a banner of their regiment planted on top. To this day, the field of Uthun has over 20 infantry regiment banners, 10 Marksmen regiment banners and over two dozen cavalry banners. For the Orks, they had lost more warriors than expected and as such, their planned invasion of the Princepality had to put on hold whilst they recuperated and raised more warriors. It would take two years for the Orks to fully ready for war again. By 303 AFT, they had amassed fifteen thousand warriors were ready to fight again. The Caelish retreated to the safety of the Inner Territories and returned to Caelum, solemn and in mourning. They brought back not only victory but the body of the Princeps Caem, who was interred in the mausoleum of the Castus. Caem's heir, Korvus, was still too young to ascend as Princeps so for the next four years, Caelum would be without a Princeps, with Secundus Lariel Arlington being sole leader of the Princepality for the time.